AROUND 250 spectators enjoyed the exhilarating sight of 15 power boats racing around a mile stretch of race course on Windermere within the bay just south of Storrs Hotel last weekend.

The event was the Commodore’s Race Day, organised by the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club.

Alongside the regular club racers were members of the Lancashire Power Boat Club and fellow racing enthusiasts from as far away as the south coast.

The weather proved to be predictably unreliable with winds of up to 20mph at one stage, which resulted in some challenging race conditions. However, this did not deter the spectators who settled down to watch some spectacular racing.

The Commodore’s Day prize went to Dave James and Linsey Fairhurst and was presented by the Commodore Roy Pugh.

WMBRC has thanked the lake rangers for their co-operation and assistance on the day, along with the Osprey Rescue crew and the Trust Medical Service.

Motor boat racing has taken place on Windermere since the end of the First World War, but it was not until October 24, 1925 that a group of enthusiastic motor boat drivers got together and founded the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club to 'promote motor boat racing and to regulate safety on the lake'. That aim still stands today as WMBRC celebrates its 91st year, albeit with a couple of interludes; one being the Second World War and the other the speed limit on Windermere coming into force in 2005.

The races initially took place within Bowness Bay, but moved south in 1950 after the club purchased Broad Leys, an Arts and Crafts building designed by CFA Voysey for a Yorkshire Industrialist.

When the ban came into force in 2005, WMBRC took its racing to Ramsden Dock in Barrow, where the majority of the race days still take place. However, after meetings with local parish councils and the Lake District National Park Authority, exemptions were granted for racing to take place once again on Windermere for the Regatta and the Commodore’s Race Day.